


The Babysitting Job

by Mythril (fantacination)



Series: #SheithWeek2k16 [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Babysitting, Hot Dad!Shiro, Kid Fic, Less Dad but Definitely Hot, M/M, Nanny!Keith, SHEITH WEEK, Sheith Week 2016, Sheith Week 2016: Training/Playful, Shiro is the DILTF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-27
Updated: 2016-10-27
Packaged: 2018-08-27 08:44:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8395090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fantacination/pseuds/Mythril
Summary: Day 5 Training/Playful-->kids?Shiro desperately needs a nanny for his two young charges. Keith happens to be way better with kids than people.





	

It was the summer after graduation. 

Keith had joined up with a band of kids from his foster home who were going around town doing odd jobs. It helped fill the time as he applied for other jobs around town, hoping to land something that’d let him leave the cramped old foster house before he was forced to, Keith had so far done a paper route, replaced a punctured bike tire, and taken down bunting and flyers around town. 

This afternoon, he was helping Albert mow the lawns and weed the gardens in one of the better-off streets in the suburbs. Not so well off that they'd hire personal professional gardeners, of course, which worked out just fine for Keith.

It was hot work. Tiring, too. By the fourth house, Keith was starting to feel his head pound and had to retreat into the shade cast on one side of the sleek, modernistic house. An arched trellis joined the side of the property fence and the house, covered in flowering vines and ivy. He cast a lingering look at the pool in the back yard, separated from the front by a low fence. It looked bright and inviting. But he knew better than to risk taking a dip. It looked to be in full view of the house.

He took off his sweat-damp shirt and stuck his head under the outdoor faucet instead, letting the cool water run over his heated skin. With his luck, he'd get burnt and peel all over his next job interview. He didn't have a lot going for him. Showing up looking like an old bleached photograph probably wasn't going to help.

He tipped his mouth into the stream for a drink, heedless of the spray that spilled out of the corners of his mouth. He was just thinking about running his shirt under the water when he heard crying. Two of them, actually. 

That wasn’t really unusual. Plenty of families around this area. 

But even after Keith had slung his shirt back on and started mowing again, the crying hadn’t stopped. It would dip into sniffling, then suddenly bawl out louder than ever. 

Keith was… concerned. 

He knocked on the door. “Hello?” He paused. He had no idea who actually lived in this house, he realized. They’d been hired by the home owners' association. There was a sign painted on the side of the door, though. 

“Mrs. Shirogane?” he ventured. 

“Coming,” a distinctly masculine voice said from inside. Oops. 

It wasn’t long before a harried-looking man answered the door. 

Keith blinked. He was pretty sure this was what people meant when they said “DILTF”. 

Mr.Shirogane was apparently a tall, well-muscled man with a shock of white hair across his brow, falling into dark, almond-shaped eyes. He had the kind of jaw you saw on old movie posters. He was in a simple shirt and jeans, bare feet sticking out. 

He also had two, dark-haired, chubby-cheeked children squalling in his arms.  One appeared to be a couple of years older than the other. 

“I’m sorry- I can’t leave them- I don’t know what’s gotten into them-” Hot Dad fretted. “Is there something wrong with the lawn?” 

“You. Uh, need a little help?” Keith asked, eying the leftmost child who was starting to slip from squirming, before Hot Dad canted his hip and boosted her back up effortlessly, though clumsily. The adjustment skimmed a whole two inches of his shirt up, showing tanned, firm abs and the delicious dip of his hipbone.

It took a second to refocus. He'd quite possibly never felt more gay in his life than he did now

“No, well, I mean… do you know anything about babies?” Hot Dad asked, looking a little desperate.

“Some. May I?” Keith held his hands out for one of the kids. The one on the man's right arm was transferred to him after a pause and Mr.Shirogane stepped aside to let him in. 

The little boy in his arms got louder, frustrated wails that left his tiny face tomato-red. Keith bore it. At least he didn’t seem to be a biter like Abigail had been. 

He wrapped his arm securely around the infant, making sure there was no way he could slip, and checked his diaper. Ah. Wet. He sniffed. Kinda stinky, too. 

“Do you have a changing table or a blanket?” Keith asked distractedly. “And diapers. And wipes.” 

“Over here…” Mr.Shirogane led Keith further inside to the living room. It was a mess. Toys were spilled everywhere and cushions were on the floor. There seemed to be a shoe, a hairbrush, a half-finished bowl of cereal, and a lonely unicorn sock scattered across the couch like a breadcrumb trail. 

Keith found the changing table folded away and popped it open one-handed, briskly and carefully laying the little boy on it so he could change him, taking care of the mess with the wipes. 

Meantime, the other kid-- a girl, he thought, by the skirt, had quieted down at the introduction of a stranger into their house. He didn’t really think he could count on that for long, though. 

“How old are they?” 

“Oh, Mick’s about five months. Minnie’s two and a half.” 

Keith paused. “Mickey and Minnie?” 

“Michael and Minerva, technically, but yeah.” Hot Dad sounded sheepish.

“I hope they forgive you when they’re older.” 

“It wasn’t  _ my  _ pick,” Mr. Shirogane protested. 

Keith finished velcroing the sides of the diaper together, lifting a much quieter baby to his shoulder. At this age they weren’t as picky about who carried them yet, usually. Mick snuffled wetly and knocked his face awkwardly into Keith’s neck, streaking it with snot and drool. 

Keith stroked his back gently, rocking on his heels slowly. “Has he eaten yet?” he asked Shiro. 

“Yeah, his next bottle’s in another hour or so.” Shiro seemed relieved to be able to answer something he actually knew.

“So what set the princess off?” He nodded towards the little girl, who was now clutching at her dad’s bicep and staring, wide-eyed, at Keith. 

“I’m not sure. I think she might’ve been crying because Mick was…” 

“Hey Minnie. I’m Keith. Are you hungry?” Keith asked the little girl gently. 

Minnie shook her head, tucking her face into her dad’s neck. 

“What about sleepy? Do you want a nap?” 

“She’s supposed to have one around now, but she won’t lay down.” 

“Yeah, I think someone’s starting to feel sleepy but she wants to play, right? How about your dad reads you a story? But only if you’re under a blanket.” 

“O-oh, I’m not her dad,” the man said suddenly. 

Keith blinked. “You’re not?” 

“No, I’m their uncle. They’re my older brother’s kids, but he got called away for work so I’m trying to look after them.” 

“Sounds rough,” Keith said, trying to re-evaluate this guy's age. The hair kind of put him off, but he supposed he did look a bit younger than he'd thought. Maybe only a few years older than Keith himself.

“I’m Takashi. But you can call me Shiro-” 

“Short for ‘Shirogane’ like on the nameplate outside?” 

“Yeah.” A rueful grin. How did a guy this ripped still manage to look adorable with just a shy duck of his head? 

Keith very carefully focused on the toddler. “Okay, Minnie, your uncle will read it to you.” 

The little girl whispered into Shiro’s ear. 

“Uh. I think she wants you to read it?” Shiro said, after a pause. 

“Me?” Keith paused, flummoxed. 

“Yeah.” 

Keith wasn’t… well he was okay with kids. Kids were easy to deal with. He liked them a lot more than he did most people his own age, that was for sure. But he hadn’t exactly been planning on staying for long here. There was still a lawn to mow outside and possibly two more.

“I’ll call-- Mrs. Johnson, right? So she doesn’t worry if you’re late- don’t worry about the lawn, we’ll pay you and I can cut it on my own,” Shiro said, naming the house mother of Keith’s foster home. She'd been the one to organize this job. 

“Yeah, that’s her,” Keith said slowly, startled. “I can’t--” slack, he meant to say, but he stopped.

God, this guy looked in over his head. He was probably too hot to get bags under his eyes, but it would also be tragic to risk it. And then there were the kids- babies were poop factories and toddlers needed a lot of attention. Minnie looked like a sulker. Would they be alright with just one guy who didn't even know how to change a diaper?

He supposed he could help out a little longer. 

“If you’re sure.”

“Thanks. You’re a lifesaver,” Shiro said, utterly sincere. His hand flew out to squeeze Keith's free shoulder, warm. 

They took the kids upstairs and waited patiently while Minnie picked first one book- then, another three. She brought the colorful, thick booklets to the bed, scrambling onto the pastel checkered quilt with more enthusiasm than dexterity.

Keith boosted her with a hand and helped tuck her in, adjusting the heart-shaped pillow behind her head. 

“Which one did you want?” He asked, as Shiro carefully set a padded blanket down next to Minnie for Mick,

She shyly tapped the first book, a cloud-shaped one that had a smiling sun on its cover. 

Shiro settled on the opposite side of the bed. The waistband of his pants dipped beneath the hem of his shirt, showing another flash of tan skin. Keith wondered if the tan went all the way down. 

Then, of course, Minnie tapped his hand, impatient. 

Telling himself to calm down, Keith opened the first page of the book, setting it down where Minnie could easily see it. “Everyday, Mr.Sun would get up from his bed of clouds…” he started to read. 

It was a cute fable, a short story in barely twenty-five sentences about Mr.Sun and his day out. It ended with the beaming sun settling back down into his bed after the day’s colorful adventures. 

The pictures were cute, done in soft colors, and as he read, he started to kind of get into it. He did the voices of the sun, and the flowers, and the animals, making it up as he went. Minnie giggled and fidgeted at all the right parts, but by the time Keith reached the end, the weight of the day and a warm blanket had already managed to lull her to sleep. 

“..The End,” Keith finished gently, so as not to wake her.

Asleep with their thumbs curled into their mouths, kids were definitely cute. Keith felt a small sense of accomplishment at that.

“You’re really good at that. I didn’t think you’d do voices. I always chicken out,” Shiro said, amused. 

Keith ducked his head. He’d pretty much made a fool of himself in front of Hot formerly-Dad, but it wasn’t like he’d been planning on doing anything but stare at him.

“They were probably just a little anxious if their parents were gone. They’ll be fine when their dad come back.”

“It’ll be a couple of weeks until then,” Shiro sighed. “Listen, I know this might be a bit… We were planning on hiring a nanny or something, but are you free for the next couple of weeks?” 

“You want me to babysit?” Keith blinked. That was something the girls did from time to time, but he’d never gotten hired for a babysitting job before. Something about his face, probably.

“They like you and you know what you’re doing more than I do,” Shiro pointed out, smile crooked.  

“I don’t really… I’m not--” Keith began. 

“Would twenty an hour be enough?” 

Keith swallowed his tongue. Those were fairly generous rates. And he needed the money. “I, okay.”

“Wasn’t so hard, now, was it?” Shiro teased knowingly, laughing at the glare Keith sent him. 

“I could be an axe murderer,” Keith reminded him.

“The deodorant kind, maybe,” Shiro mused.

“You’re not very nice for someone who’s about to entrust me with their kids,” Keith said, struggling to keep a straight face.

“I’d be scared, except Minnie’ll have you eating out of the palm of her hand in seconds,” Shiro chuckled. “She’s shy now, but wait until she gets comfortable enough to talk your ear off.” 

Keith didn’t doubt it. The whole damn family seemed endlessly charming. 

But a job was a job and if he could spend a little more time subtly ogling a guy who was probably only in town for a couple of weeks, then, well, what was the harm? 

And that was how he started his strangest summer job yet. 


End file.
